Moribund
by Dathari
Summary: Soriku: Update, Chapter Seven: My Other Half
1. The Lighthouse

Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, there would be shounen-ai. Lots of it. And it would probably end up rated NC-17. Riku might never have worn a shirt. Ever. Unfortunately, KH belongs to Squaresoft (growl).

BE WARNED: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD.

Later, this will probably turn into shounen-ai (or maybe even yaoi), but for the moment, it's neutral. Don't flame what you can't understand.

-Moribund-

The Lighthouse

I kept one hand steady on Highwind's controls and glanced out the window to my left. There hadn't been any Heartless ships for the past half-hour, so I was beginning to believe I was safe. Maybe now I could stop by Traverse Town and track down Donald and Goofy. I smiled fondly. Those two morons had managed to get stuck on a trade ship heading in that direction, and so it had blasted off accompanied by the sound of Donald's furious quacking. It was truly an endearing sight.

Shots bounced against the hull of the ship, and I jerked out of my reverie. An armada of Heartless ships was gaining on my smaller one. No matter. I spun my tiny ship around, and, at my command, the thirty separate blasters I had equipped unconcealed themselves around the ship. The armada slowed somewhat.

Seconds later, a horde of Gummi blocks was floating around where there was once an entire attack force. I leaned forward, spotting one in particular that I'd been looking for, but then felt the repercussions as someone else fired relentlessly from behind. Warnings blared at me from the screens, telling me that the attacker had struck the engine. I frowned. The Heartless were incredibly stupid. Which one of them could know where the engine was, and to strike it in the first place? It could have been an accident—but no, there were repeated shots to the engine. I spun the ship hard, only to sustain blows that sent me into an uncontrollable spin. I managed to get a glimpse of a Heartless ship, but I couldn't recognize it as any of the run-of-the-mill ones. A few more shots bounced flawlessly against the engine, sending me flying forward. My head cracked against the control panel—seemed like that triggered a critical malfunction, or maybe that had already happened—and stars flickered in front of my eyes. Something large and metallic loomed in front of the Gummi ship—great, it must be another Heartless here to finish me off. I was developing a throbbing headache from the control panel; one that threatened to send me under. I had just enough time to steer the ship around the latest arrival before I blacked out.

I woke up to a soft whirring sound near my ear. It seemed like the engine was up and working again, but, I realized as I looked around at the ship, I was in no condition to continue. I glanced out the window and saw something large and metallic, which bore an unmistakable resemblance to the thing I'd last seen. It wasn't a ship, though. It looked almost like a building, suspended in midair (or perhaps mid-space is the better term). When I convinced myself to ignore my bruises, I managed to get out of Highwind. I'd crashed on a small balcony sticking out of the suspended building, right in front of two huge white doors. For a moment, I hesitated. White doors had become something of a bad symbol over the past few months. But I shrugged and started for them, figuring that maybe someone inside had the means to fix my ship.

Gold letters glimmered faintly above the doors, reading "Lighthouse." Interesting. I started for them, reading out a hand for the knob. Just then I heard a distant pounding, and spun, thinking someone was approaching. When I turned my eyes back on the doors, though, I realized that the pounding was coming from inside. It was at a measured pace, very much like some huge heartbeat. Hesitantly, I reached out and grasped the doorknob. The door swung out at me, slamming me in the face. I didn't have a chance to react before I realized I was inside the room. Riku stood before me, his eyes slowly glazing over. "Sor..." he started to say, taking a step towards me. His hand stretched out towards me imploringly, not like the cold, distant gesture of before. But then he grimaced, leaning forward and crumpling slowly to the floor. Silver strands of hair bounced delicately for a moment, and then lay still. His face was pale—I didn't want to believe he was dead, but it looked to be that way, even though there was no visible wound.

I wanted to shout his name and run to him, turn him over and brush the hair out of his face. Had I done this somehow? And what had I done? Was it reversible? And yet, even as I wondered these things and yearned to go to him, I didn't. Instead, I raised the Keyblade high. "This ends here," said a voice that was not my own, bringing the weapon down on Riku.

A gasp escaped my lips and I stepped back, releasing the doorknob. I tried to reorient myself, wonderment aligning my thoughts. Had that really just happened? It passed by so fast. The door gave off a distant sparkle, as though it had some dark secret clasped to its chest—a secret it didn't want to share with me. I stepped back a little more, starting for Highwind. I didn't want to pass through those doors, and I didn't want to think about what might happen to Riku if I did.

A scream rang out above me. I looked up quickly, tracing the source to the window near the top of the Lighthouse. "Riku!" I shouted, recognizing his voice. I ran for the doors and seized both knobs, pushing them open as one. The room around me was familiar in the sense that I'd seen it only moments ago, but I didn't have the time to think about that. I ran for the pearl-colored stairwell in the center of the room. It curved up through the Lighthouse like a corkscrew, void of railing or walls around it. Stairs coasted past my feet ten at a time, each curve catching me off guard. I was getting very high up now, and I really didn't want to think about what I might look like if I fell, but I still used all the speed I could muster. Finally, a door loomed before me. I tripped on the last stair and very nearly made the entire exertion a waste of time, but managed to regain my balance and run down the narrow walkway to the door.

The first color to reach my eyes was red. It was the color of blood, and seemed to be the exact same texture as well, having spilled in droplets on the floor. Riku was in one corner of the room, his bloodstained hand pressed over his arm, which was still bleeding profusely. His Keyblade—the one I'd seen when I fought him as Ansem—was lying nearby. There was a boy standing in front of Riku, blond-haired, with his back to me. The Oblivion glinted darkly in his right hand, and the Oathkeeper sparkled on his left. He turned slowly, cold blue eyes meeting mine. "Sora," he said slowly. "I was beginning to wonder when you would show up here."

I stared at him in horror, taking in the scenario. Riku, leaning against the wall, began to sink to the floor. It was clear he was suffering from blood loss. "You...how could you—!" I shouted, running at the stranger in blind fury. The Ultima crossed blades with the Oblivion, and I had to move quickly to keep from being gutted by the Oathkeeper. The boy was quicker than I was—it seemed almost like he was predicting my movements and acting before I did. His fashion seemed oddly familiar. Soon I found myself also making a few assumptions that proved true, but he clearly knew how to use both Keyblades. I was sustaining more and more serious scratches, and eventually I backed off for a while. "Who are you?!" I demanded harshly when I caught my breath again.

He spread his hands invitingly. "You don't know me? You can't remember?"

I stopped short and almost forgot to breathe. Clear as day, I remembered the voice in my mind as I wandered the halls of Hollow Bastion as a Heartless. It was that voice, explaining to me relentlessly, that had almost caused me to turn back, to submerge myself in darkness. And now, using that voice, there was a boy who knew my every move—because he was a part of myself.

"Here we go—now you recognize me," he said easily. "And I think you know what I want from you."

"I'll die first!" I shouted, raising the Ultima.

"So be it," he replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. Then we were fighting again, three Keyblades spinning with varying lights as they clashed together. I was growing increasingly fearful, knowing that he was focusing on either hurting me or killing me this time. And also, my movements were growing sloppy with fatigue. The bursts of anger I'd felt before were clogging my senses, making it harder to focus on the spinning Keyblades. Unexpectedly, the Oblivion slashed across my chest and I crashed against the wall. The stranger stood before me, raising the Oathkeeper. "I'll give you the choice, Sora. If you don't have the will, you won't block this blow, and we'll be bound together again."

I felt helpless to stop him. Pain coursed through my body, and my hands shook with what I interpreted as fear. Why was I so afraid? Was it because he would change me, make me different from what I was? Was that really so bad?

'Yes it is!' was the shout that plagued my mind. 'Now quit being stupid, and block him before he plunges you into darkness! You don't want to know what that's like!'

Who was talking to me? A part of me listened, and I feebly tried to raise the Ultima. The boy's eyes glinted, and the Oathkeeper's blade struck toward my heart.

There was the clang of metal against metal, and suddenly Riku was standing in front of me, blocking the Oathkeeper. Both his arms quailed under it, and it was clear he was in terrible pain in doing so. "Do I have to do everything for you?" he asked me, a hint of annoyance in his tone. I managed a frail smile at his familiar form, and struggled to stand. I was growing dizzy from loss of blood, and it seemed as though the stranger was trying to push into my mind as well. Typical, I thought wryly.

Riku broke the lock between the two Keyblades, and I had just enough time to move away before the Oathkeeper struck. Riku had one hand on the wall and was breathing hard as a curtain of blood slid down his injured arm. The boy halted in his assault, looking at something behind me. "I'll come back later, then," he said. I vaguely wondered what the hell he was talking about, but then he turned and started down the stairwell. Something white flickered across my vision even as it failed. I must've been dreaming or something...it looked remarkably like a white Heartless...but that's impossible...right...?

---

Of course, that all happened a few months ago. As it turned out, Donald and Goofy somehow got to the Lighthouse and picked us both up. Apparently some Heartless had tipped them off, and they explained it was a white one. I couldn't imagine why a Heartless was willing to help me—or maybe it was Riku?—for a change, but that doesn't lessen my gratitude. Highwind was put in the shop, even though it seemed like Cid never got around to fixing it.

It was my birthday on the day we left Traverse Town, and it turned out to be a pretty shabby one, in retrospect. Still, now Riku and I were the exact same age, and he couldn't act out the part of the older one anymore. At least, not for two months.

The wound on Riku's arm had turned into what he called a "manly scar," even though it looked like it would go away by the time he turned sixteen. My chest wound was actually less serious in nature, although more dangerous in positioning. Besides losing enough blood to get knocked out, I'd pulled through fine. On occasion, we both bragged about the seriousness of our wounds, even though this usually turned brutal when Riku made an impression of me swooning after the attack.

Anyway, today we left on the ship called Crasher; aptly named, as it was rumored to crash every time it passed Neverland. I thought this was ludicrous, but Riku, with his superior knowledge of darkness, had thoroughly checked Crasher for curses. Donald and Goofy claimed it wasn't true, but I believe it was for this reason that they didn't come with us. "Where to?" I asked Riku later before we lifted off.

"Hollow Bastion—through the warp hole," he explained, shooting me a sideways glance. "I have a feeling we might find some clues there."

"Clues?"

"Where have you been, Sora?" he asked, grinning. "We already decided to go there to find out where that kid came from. You remember—he's the one who tried to kill you?"

"Yeah, I remember him," I said sourly, slumping in my seat. The last thing I wanted to do was come face to face with that person again. Even with Riku's strength on my side, I thoroughly doubted we'd make enough of a match. Although, two Keyblades are better than one...

"I guess you weren't paying attention when we discussed it with Squall," Riku told me casually, flipping a few switches as we started out of the docking bay. "You must've been too busy writhing with agony over your almost completely healed wound." He grinned and pretended to swoon.

I poked his manly scar.

---

A/N: Sorry Sora was so OOC; it just seemed right. And Chrono Cross fans, yes, I ripped that scene (you know which one). Loved doing it, too! CC and KH ROCK! (But Serge is mine. MINE!) Lemme know if you want me to continue this one.


	2. Beautiful Eyes

Disclaimer: Gif me your characterz…ALL OF DEM!

Squaresoft: kills Disclaimer with the Lawyers of Doom

By now, I have at least one review. My ego is satisfied. Chaptuh two: (and yes, it's R/S shounen-ai)

Moribund

Beautiful Eyes

---

Riku hadn't changed much, I thought. For my benefit, he had changed out of the dark clothing he was wearing back at the Lighthouse, and wore something vastly similar to his old Destiny Islands garb. He was just as beautiful as he had been back on the island, with the exception of the fact that he was a bit pale for lack of island sun. But he still had a smoothly muscled body, sleek and flowing with motion. In fact, I thought as I sat in hiding, he was actually pretty sexy, and—

I stopped my mind on the brink of thinking Riku had a nice ass. I could feel my cheeks burning as I realized the implications of what I had been thinking about, and had to turn away to keep him from seeing me. But, thankfully, he was still focused on the Rising Falls. His aqua-green eyes were narrowed from behind the silver strands of hair, searching the quiet falls (or are they rises?) for signs of intelligent life. Heartless were darting about nearby the entrance to the castle, but we didn't necessarily consider them particularly intelligent.

In the months we had taken to heal, I had noticed that more and more of these uncomfortable feelings were cropping up around me. I was growing increasingly nervous to be around him, and I couldn't really figure out why.

Finally he turned to beckon to me, but I looked away just as he did, feeling a hot flush creep across my cheeks again. "Sora," he said softly, craning his neck to see me. I didn't turn, paralyzed with fear and raising my hands to cup my cheeks in the vain hope that this stupid blush would just go away.

A small block of ice hit my shoulder and, without thinking, I turned. Riku beckoned to me fervently. Hoping the flush wouldn't return, I crawled up next to him. "No no, stay down!" he hissed, pressing me against the ice with one arm. My cheeks simmered with the threat of breaking out into a brilliant red. I couldn't think of the last time we had been this close. I hadn't been this anxious...I don't think...

Riku pointed down at the water. "See them?" he asked, looking at me again. My brain stopped working. I stared at his beautiful face, at a loss, and wondered why his lips were moving. He sighed in irritation. "Sora—down there."

Right. Down there. I sluggishly turned my head to look at the two figures conversing under cover of water (and the general fact that no one in their right mind would come here). One of them I recognized as Maleficent, who was supposed to be dead, and therefore was not. That seemed to be one of a villain's little idiosyncrasies, right up there with managing to fail in killing the hero. But next to her was the person I hadn't expected to see ever again in this life. "Ansem?!" I exclaimed, very nearly toppling from the ledge. Almost before I had finished the first syllable, Riku's hand was clamped tightly over my mouth. When I regained my bearings, he released me, and we leaned forward to listen to what they were saying.

Silence. For a moment I thought this was a break in the conversation, but then I saw Maleficent's lips moving. "Riku, I don't think we're close enough," I whispered, realizing then that it probably wouldn't matter if I talked. They obviously hadn't heard my near-shout from before.

"Shhh!" Riku hissed at me, his eyes focused on a Heartless that looked like it was trying to pull on its antennae and hop on one foot at the same time. I watched it for a while, trying to connect it with our current focus. In the process, I got distracted by Riku's eyes, and stayed focused on them for a long time. And suddenly, they were looking back at me. "What're you staring at?" Riku asked me in an undertone, his silver brows lending his beautiful eyes a confused look.

"Uh—nothing, nothing..." I murmured softly, dropping my eyes. Having done so, they landed on his lips, and I had to turn away very quickly as a brilliant flush spread across my face. Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like soon the blush would turn into a beacon that would alert Ansem and Maleficent. Realizing this, I had the presence of mind to press my burning face down on the ledge, and felt the ice begin to melt almost instantaneously.

"If you can't quit blushing, they'll see us," Riku told me after a while.

Well, I did say MAYBE it was just me.

"What's up with you, anyway?" From the sound of his voice, he was watching the Heartless again.

"Why are you watching the Heartless?" I asked quickly, bringing my face up from the ledge and hoping that it was no longer burning. It seemed very wet and very numb.

"Maleficent and Ansem are speaking in an archaic kind of language that I can't understand," Riku whispered. "That Heartless is translating for a congregation somewhere."

"What's he saying?"

"He's mentioned a lot about someone named 'Axel,'" Riku explained, frowning.

"Oh." I suddenly felt very proud. "I fought him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. At the end there was a bit of an accident..." I trailed off, touching the tips of my fingers together in mock-guilt.

"That explains a lot," Riku told me, turning back to the Heartless. "Maleficent sounds very angry for some reason."

I concentrated a little harder on the Heartless, as though I could pierce the secret of the language he was speaking. That didn't quite work, so I asked Riku. "What has he said about that guy at the Lighthouse?"

"I think he's the one they're calling 'The Light One with Dark Heart,'" Riku explained. "The name's a little shorter in that language."

This sparked my curiosity. I hadn't known that the Heartless had a language, and I'd certainly never heard it spoken before. Well, maybe I had at some point in battle—but I never knew what it meant. "What's it sound like?"

Riku paused, looking for a moment like he might throw up, and then managed to make a guttural rasping noise. "Something like that," he told me. "My Heartless is a little off—oh crap."

I looked up to see that the translating Heartless and the two figures all looking up at us. I understood how Riku felt, but there were a few other words I might have used in addition to "crap." While I was fantasizing about curse words, Riku stood up; clearly the more intelligent move. He seized my arm and ran for the ship. I kept up as best I could, even though the ice was slick and I didn't always know which direction he was going to take. My heart rang out in my ears, shrieking obscenities as I heard a rush of air from behind us. At any moment, we might be snatched into darkness. What would they do to Riku?

Suddenly, the unthinkable happened.

Riku let out a pained yell as he slid on the ice, seizing his left ankle with one hand and pounding the ground with the other. His teeth gritted with pain as I bent beside him. "Can you walk?" I asked him, glancing back nervously at our pursuers.

"I don't think so...bone must've snapped. Go on, I'll make it back to you," he told me.

That could not happen. If Maleficent got Riku again, I knew he would be forever out of my reach. Riku knew that too—I could see it in his eyes. "Don't lie to me, Riku," I told him. I felt unusually scrawny and helpless, but if I couldn't get him out of here, I didn't want to leave. With another fervent glance backward, I slipped one hand under his knees and another around his back. I braced myself and, with some struggling, lifted him from the ice. I almost whooped with joy. Riku, although he was heavier than I was, was not so heavy that I couldn't get him out of a tight spot.

I started running, and found that inertia actually made the job easier. My uncommonly large yellow shoes pounded against the ice as I ran, and more than once I almost tripped because of them. "Oh, dammit..." I muttered finally. "Go to hell!" I kicked one of them off, sending it careening down the ice. There was a gratifying scream from Maleficent. The next one drew a collective screech from a few Heartless. I resisted the impulse to look back and see exactly what had happened to them, instead imagining Maleficent standing still with my yellow shoe stuck over her fat, horned head.

It was truly an endearing sight.

But another problem was peeking over my shoulder in the guise of Ansem shooting flames at us. This melted the ice, and that was a problem. I was already looking at frostbite because of my lost shoes, and if we fell into icy water now...I shivered. If we fell, we'd get caught, and that was the end of it.

Another unthinkable thing happened.

I let out a shout as my uncovered toe crashed against an icy rock. Riku flew out of my arms, sliding down along the ice, and I followed on my stomach, reaching out to him. By some stroke of unbelievable luck, we slid right through the open doors of Crasher. Riku slapped the button to slam them shut seconds after I was inside, and I rushed to the control panel. I had never been so happy to see a Gummi ship before. "Riku, I think we're safe," I called back to him when we were off the ground. Below us, Maleficent and Ansem were staring upward, their faces like ripe lemons.

"Great. Now where's the sick bay?" Riku replied, the pain evident in his voice. I set the ship on autopilot and came back to where he was resting next to the door. With my remaining strength, I lifted him again and brought him to the medical ward. Once there, I took out the necessary Potions and braces, and (with difficulty) pulled the bone back into place. It took a little while though, and there were several times when Riku was almost crying due to the pain. "Thanks," he said to me when I was finished, relaxing. He lay back against the cot, closing his eyes. "I never expected that kind of thing from you, Sora," he said slowly. "It took a lot of courage to stick by me, and I appreciate that." He smirked without opening his eyes. "Not to mention the strength it took to get me all the way here."

I smiled. "It was nothing, Riku. You would've done the same for me," I told him, placing a hand absently on his arm.

His smirk faltered a bit, and he reached up to grasp my wrist. "I wish I could believe that."

"Mmm..." I mumbled uncertainly, feeling a flush dart across my cheeks again. I was glad Riku wasn't watching me, because this time I knew he'd recognize my nervousness for what it was. The question was, what would he do about it? The answer frightened me. For all I knew, he'd feel uncomfortable around me after that, and our friendship, void of attention, would eventually dissipate. I didn't want something like that to happen. So the answer to what I would do about it was simple. I'd smuggle these feelings away, hold them deep in my heart, and never let him know they exist.

I jumped as Riku let out a soft moan, but then I realized that he'd fallen asleep. I gently extricated my hand from his, and hesitated. He was beautiful when he was sleeping, and his soft pink lips, turned slightly up in the remnant of the smile he'd shown me, were making my heart sing. My own lips were begging me to lean down—just a little peck, it couldn't hurt—

Just then I realized what I was doing. I stood up, backing away quickly. Again fear stole across my heart. If this happened when I was around him, then I couldn't be around him. But if I stayed around him, he might find out, and then I wouldn't be able to be around him. Whatever I did, it looked like it would lead to the eventual end of our relationship. I sighed. I'd have to sort this all out in the morning—it was just too tiresome.

I turned away and clicked off the light as I started out the door. " 'Night, Riku," I said to him, pausing in the doorway. I heard him shift from behind me, and turned to look at him. Two beautiful green eyes were slightly open, glowing softly in the light from the door.

"Thank you...Sora..." he said softly, and then closed his eyes again.

---

A/N: My egotistical self has more than one review. You're too kind!

Riku: -- You just know he's aching on the inside because he expected three hundred. He's already got a swelled head—

Dai: SHUT UP!

Riku: (punch)

Dai: --; I hate my life.

(BTW: Draw a picture of Maleficent with Sora's shoe over her head and I'll kiss you. XD)

Review Replies:

Yin Yue: I don't understand why no one has reviewed yet. I think you've gotten Sora's character spot on, and I love the fact that you decided to turn Blondie (whom I dislike quite a bit) into Sora's Shadow. :D It's a very nice touch. I look forward to seeing more of this from you!

Dai: (is humbled) Yah, I don't really understand either (reviews), but I'm trying to keep my ego down. waves flag of humbleness Blondie was more or less a spur-of-the-moment thing, because I really didn't know what I wanted to do with him. But, yeh, I think it worked out. I hope I won't disappoint you!

Taunting: Hi there! I don't usually read stories written in first person, but I couldn't resist with this one. haha, love the way you portray the interaction between Sora and Riku. Would be interesting to see how you develop the story!

Dai: Sorry, I just have an overwhelming compulsion to write in Sora's POV. And yeah, I'm trying to make the interaction kinda natural and believable. The manly scar will return! XD


	3. See What Running Away Can Do?

Disclaimer: Manly scar! (poke)

-Moribund-

See What Running Away Can Do?

"Crap," I muttered, looking at my cracked toenail in the light. After what happened at Hollow Bastion, I'd grabbed some shoes and then noticed the bloodstain on my sock. So now I realized exactly how much damage that rock had done. I guess I hadn't noticed it before, what with everything being so hectic. Fortunately, this discovery was deserving of no more than the word "crap."

The ship jerked violently just then, sending me flying off my bed and into the wall. This yielded a specific yell that earned me a disapproving look from my conscience. Ignoring the mental librarian that was my conscience (oddly enough, as I had a terrible fear of librarians), I got up and puttered down the hall to the cockpit. Everything looked normal—the control panel was blinking an okay signal, and the repercussions from the jolt didn't seem to have touched the front of the ship.

"What the hell was that?" Riku asked from the sick bay, his voice lined with pain. I went to his side to discover that the jolt had knocked him out of the cot and almost made short work of the job I'd done on his ankle. We managed to get him back on the cot—my arms were beginning to get sore from the incident at Hollow Bastion—and I told him what I knew.

"I have no idea."

"That's helpful," he said sourly. I would've poked his manly scar just then, but I figured he was undergoing enough pain as it was. Just then, he paused, the spark of realization crossing his face. "Where are we?"

"I don't know—I didn't take the warp hole and it's only been half an hour, so we should be over Neverland about...right...now..." I stopped speaking, realizing what was going on. "You don't think it'll crash!" I asked him, panicking. If we crashed, first and foremost, we could die. And then there was the fact that we would be out of a Gummi ship, out of communication, and out of luck. I wanted to get Riku to proper medical attention as soon as possible, but it's hard to get from Neverland to Traverse Town without a Gummi ship.

"I think it'll crash," Riku told me.

I just couldn't express to him how much that boosted my morale.

So I poked his manly scar.

-

Five minutes later, we landed. Or, well, crashed. Riku was shouting at me, demanding to know whether I realized exactly how much pain it caused him to have his precious manly scar poked. I retaliated by telling him I was very much aware of that, and he decided to fix me with an accusing glare for a while. I dared to think he was cute when he was like that, once again ignoring the shrieking librarian in my head.

As it turned out, we had landed in the city around the clock tower. "I wonder if Peter's around," I said aloud. Flying would be a distinct advantage over our deteriorating luck. For this reason, our luck said no.

"You'll use these to get around," I told Riku, digging out a pair of crutches. He fixed me with an indignant gaze that also held a hint of disappointment. I knew how much he hated being in any way handicapped, but this was clearly necessary. Me carrying him around the town wouldn't make much difference, and I told him so. He grudgingly let me help him align the crutches right. "First I want to take you to a hospital," I told him when we managed to get out of the ship without too much difficulty.

"A hospital!" he groaned in protest.

"Cut it out. I'm not sure I set your ankle right, and we don't want it growing back crooked, now do we?"

The very thought made him look sick.

After a wild goose chase, in which all of the townspeople clearly delighted, we managed to find the small infirmary not three feet from our ship. The nurse who answered the door took a few minutes to stare moronically at Crasher before we got her to take Riku inside. At this point, she became obsessed with Riku's strange garb until the doctor hauled him away. "It looks like it was set right," he said later when he left the room.

Riku shot me a dark look.

"You never know," I told him, feeling a little upset that he wasn't showing more gratitude.

"But there's one little adjustment I need to make." The doctor gave Riku's ankle a short twist, drawing a pained shout from him. "There—that should let you heal right," he said, patting Riku's shoulder in a fatherly manner and seemingly oblivious to the rigid grimace on his face.

I made a monetary exchange with the doctor, even as Riku complained and said he could pay. "And could you keep him here awhile?" I asked, taking care not to look at Riku. "I don't want him getting hurt again."

The doctor nodded. "You definitely don't want to be walking again anytime soon, young man." Again, he didn't seem to notice the way Riku's eyes were burning red.

"Sora, you can't leave me here!" he shouted even as I turned to leave. "I'm not an invalid or something!"

"Riku, face it," I said to him then. "There are Heartless all over the place. You can't wield a weapon at this stage. I understand how you feel, but I can't let you get hurt again."

"Why not?"

"I—!" I stopped then, caught off guard, as a flush crept up on my cheeks. I couldn't meet his eyes. But then I looked up, recognizing his expression. Dawning comprehension was like a lantern in his eyes, and I felt my heart sinking in my chest. I ran out, slamming the door behind me. I barreled past the nurse, oblivious to her surprised shout, and finally stopped outside in the night air.

So Riku knew. I felt my eyes welling up with tears. The road passed under my feet as I left the area without any clear idea where I was going. Riku knew. That knowledge repeated itself in my mind as I walked, brushing aside tears with my knuckles. I knew Riku was straight, just somehow I knew. And now, because of something wrong with me...the fact that I was...was...

I threw one fist angrily against the wall, not caring as I felt the rough surface scratch my skin. It was my turn to face facts. I was in love with Riku, and he wasn't in love with me. He probably hated me just now...he was probably embarrassed...there was no way I could ever face him again...

"Sora?"

I almost screamed. I hadn't expected for someone to burst in on me just then. "Peter?" I recognized the red-haired boy in front of me. He was wearing simple green clothing, a bit darker than his usual garb, but somehow he looked different. Had he gained weight? No, he must've lost some...or had he done that? Just then, my eyes landed on the goatee under his lip. "Peter, have you...are you older!"

He looked embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. I finally gave up on Neverland. Kid's stuff, really." But there was a yearning expression on his face. "It was really...well...Wendy. After she left, I just couldn't stop thinking about her. I guess it was..." He paused, searching for a word.

"Love?" I supplied, feeling a sudden pang in my heart.

"Yeah, that." Peter rolled his eyes. "I used to think it was all so stupid. Crazy, even. But now that I've felt it..." He shook his head. "It's still hard to get used to."

"Hm." I leaned against the wall, trying to look interested, but it was hard when I still had the incident with Riku to think about. I must've drifted off just then—I can't remember what exactly I was daydreaming about, but the next thing I knew, Peter was snapping his fingers under my nose.

"You're really obsessed with something, aren't you?" he asked when I looked up. "What's wrong?"

"It's..." I shook my head, forcing a dubious expression onto my face. "It's not important."

Peter let out a laugh that sounded interestingly like a rooster. "Oh, yes it is! I can see it in your eyes, there's something wrong."

"What's it like to be in love?" I asked, and at once wished I hadn't.

He leaned lightly against a small fence around one of the houses. "It's kind of nice, and kind of trying. But it's still a big deal—especially when it's someone you love so much you'd die for them before you let them get hurt."

The pangs in my heart became increasingly painful.

"But you know all about that, don't you, Sora?"

"Hm!" I jerked up, hearing my name, and absorbed what he had just said. "What do you mean?"

"That's what's wrong with you," Peter said simply. "You're in love. Everything makes sense now."

"Oh really?" I demanded, surprising myself with my harsh tone. "If you know so much, who am I in love with?"

He studied my eyes for a moment, his own shining softly in the moonlight. Suddenly the shine escalated to a sparkling brilliance and his lips parted, as though he would say something. Instead, only a gasp escaped him, and his shoulders drew upward. His eyes closed as he turned away. "...I see."

"You see what!"

"I can tell you don't want me to know who it is, so I won't tell you. I imagine I'm wrong, anyway."

"Who is it?"

Peter shook his head.

I walked over to him and seized him by the shirt. "Tell me," I said in a measured tone, "who I love." For some reason I needed to know this, if only to confirm it for myself.

"It's Riku."

For a moment, I stared at him, dazed. How could he read someone like that just by looking at their eyes? I felt strangely violated, even though I knew I'd brought this upon myself. I released him, leaning against the wall and watching the ground reflectively. Now I almost wished he hadn't told me, but at least Peter had the good graces not to say, "I told you so."

"All right," I said finally. "Supposing that's true, what do you think he thinks?"

Peter shot me a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean...do you think he's angry, or maybe just embarrassed...?"

Again came the rooster-laugh. "Angry? Because you love him? I'll bet you he's thrilled!" Peter told me. "Would you like to know just how long he had to argue with Captain Hook to keep him from killing you? Of course, that didn't necessarily work out after Riku left," he acceded.

The world was jolting under my feet like a bull trying to buck me off. I grabbed the fence to keep from falling, feeling dizzy and confused. "What?" I managed shakily.

"It's clear he values you more than anything," Peter told me, his eyes on the stars. "I wouldn't be surprised if he loves you back."

I tried to remember the expression on Riku's face. My imagination had inserted a grimace of disgust, but I knew it must've been different. "I just hope he accepts me," I said slowly. "I'm afraid our friendship will end because I'm..."

"Gay?" Peter supplied sympathetically. "Sora, you can't run from something like that. You'll only get yourself hurt. I mean," he looked toward the clock tower, "look what happened to me. I ran away from growing up, and that was almost twenty years ago. Now both my parents are dead, my little sister is older than I am, and I have to start school all over again. Because I ran away, I can't live a normal life anymore." He turned solemn eyes on me. "Don't let that happen with you and Riku. You just don't know when you'll lose him."

"Thanks, Peter," I said quietly, setting a comforting hand on his arm.

It was only after Peter had left that I thought to ask about pixie dust, but I figured he might only laugh anyway. Neverland was a child's dream to him now, even if it was one that he shared. I sighed. I'd kind of miss flying, and I knew Peter would ache for it. But still, if Riku was okay now, I wanted to see if I could get the ship up and running. After all, it's not typically hard to re-fit Gummi blocks by hand.

The nurse met me at the door, looking as though I were here to tell her bad news. "I'm sorry, sir," she said to me, her face white as a sheet. "I'm sorry—this doesn't usually happen, you understand—there was just nothing I could do—!"

Fear attacked me like a Heartless, and Peter's words floated back to me. Had I lost Riku already? No, that couldn't be it—they must've messed up the diagnosis a little, that's all. "What happened?" I asked, willing myself to be calm.

She looked frightened, but she carried on. "He just got up and walked out—there was nothing I could do to stop him! He said something about finding you, but then...then someone...!"

I panicked, feeling as though I was drowning in the anxiety that was eating me alive. "Someone what!" I demanded, even though I feared the answer. "And then someone what!"

"Someone attacked him! I don't know what they did with him, they just grabbed him and left!" she explained, very nearly bursting into tears. "I'm so sorry, I just didn't know what to do...!"

I almost keeled over right then and there. Riku was gone. Taken. Not here. Maybe in worse health than he had been. Maybe dead. I tried to maneuver my thoughts around the thick fog settling over my mind. Gone. Dead. Worse. Worry descended upon me like a curtain of smoke. Who had taken him? Why? And, more importantly, would they hurt him at all? I wouldn't be able to bear the guilt if he was crippled or killed, all because I got a little scared and ran away. I hadn't run away from the Heartless, I never ran from Maleficent, or even Ansem. There was no reason why I should've run from him, and now he was in danger—it was all my FAULT!

I let out a scream just then, a keening wail that startled the birds resting on the roof. The boy I loved was gone. Because of me.

-

A/N: You read, now review. Please. (smiles)

Dai: And guess who shows upnext chapter? Kairi! (dances)

Sora: ...(blinks) (cries) Rikuuuuu! (runs away)

Dai: (sighs) Come back! You're the protagonist, here!


	4. Death Awaits the Living

Disclaimer: The doctor's mine! Yeessshh! But I hate him, anyway...I wish Sora were mine...he's so classic.

l-Moribund-

Death Awaits the Living

The doctor patiently tapped his pen on the pad, waiting for me to respond. I only vaguely wondered what he had been talking about, being too busy considering things. From what I understood, I had screamed at some point, and then blacked out. I couldn't remember that any more than I could remember what had happened over the past few hours. I had a vague sense that many people had stopped by to visit me—mainly nurses. How nice of them. According to the doctor, they were afraid I might commit suicide or something equally insipid. That would be all too easy, all too forgiving.

It had dawned on me that everything was my fault. If I had grabbed Riku's hand so long ago, maybe this wouldn't be happening. If I had gotten him to come with me in Traverse Town, maybe he wouldn't have gone over to Ansem. Maybe he would still be alive if I had struck that mysterious man dead where he stood in the Secret Place. And if I hadn't been born, none of this would've happened, and Riku would be alive and well on the island. We would never be together, I know, but that would be better than this.

I wanted to give up. I felt like there wasn't a reason for me to live anymore. But still, I had a job to do. I had to seal the Keyholes, I had to save the world, I had to give up everything I loved for everything that existed.

Wow. I feel so good that I get to be a hero.

I closed my eyes against the harsh hospital lights. It wasn't fair. Riku was either dead, or would be dead shortly, and I would be left systematically sealing Keyholes. I wondered whether I would change at all. Would I become something of a mechanical being, living only to serve—a mere shell of the original? Or would I get over Riku and move on? The latter I considered as ludicrous. Riku and I had been friends since we were infants, as our mothers had been close friends. His death would be like sawing my heart in two and letting one half die. Nothing would be the same if I lost him...

Then I would find him. Dead or alive, I would find him, and make sure his killer paid dearly for his thrills. Malicious thoughts of tortured family members crept across my mind as I threw off the sheets and slid out of the hospital bed. "Where are my things?" I asked the doctor, going to the drawer nearby.

"I'm sorry, but we can't just let you walk out of here—"

"But I guess you can let a boy with a broken ankle do that, can't you?" I asked scathingly, turning a glare on him. My librarian conscience would reprimand me later for it, but right now I was mad at everything that lived, only because I had to give up so much to keep it that way. I seized my clothing and stalked past the doctor, almost hoping he would give chase. He didn't, though, and it became clear to me how easy it had been for Riku to get out of here. I wondered vaguely whether it was an HMO.

The sight that greeted me when I walked out of the infirmary was not the one I would've expected. Crasher, the lousy old tub, had been carefully put back together. I hesitated, wondering if this were a dream. With Crasher back in order, I'd be out of here in no time. Then I could set to work finding Riku.

But who had done this for me? I paused to wonder, and then realized that there was only one person who knew about me and Riku. I grinned, taking the identifying note from its place near the door.

Sora:

Hope this finds you well. I had a feeling your ship could use a little making over, now that you're probably going to leave to find Riku. Oh, and by the way, I found one of the circuits bent wrong—apparently pixie dust throws it off-kilter, and that's what made it crash here.

I hope I'll see you again sometime. Wendy's getting onto me for not studying, so it might be longer than I expect.

Pete

I smiled, noting the bag of pixie dust hanging beside the note. So there was no curse; it was just a technicality. Riku would be pleased to hear that. Some part of me automatically assumed I would see Peter again, but I had to admit that there was a good chance I might be killed.

But I wasn't looking for a reason to lower my morale. I slipped the pixie dust away with my other possessions, and considered where to go next. Traverse Town seemed to be the most logical place to go, it being somewhere that could yield information about this attacker. But then I realized that I had no idea what this guy looked like, and I knew there were places besides Traverse Town where someone like that could lurk. I might spend years looking for them, and even then find them only after Riku was—

Don't think about that, I thought to myself quickly. Riku's fine and well. The kidnapper won't kill him, because they want to kill me. That was slightly more comforting. I forced myself to believe this as I turned around and headed for the warphole to Traverse Town.

l-

I got off Crasher and almost ran into the very person I had considered asking. Her blue eyes were narrowed, her arms crossed over her pink shirt, and her red hair rested in bangs over one half of her face. She shot me a dark look. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I frowned in confusion. Kairi seemed mad for some reason.

She seized me by the vest, drawing me away from the double doors at the front of Traverse Town. "We'd better not talk about it here—but I wish you'd drop me a line once in a while! I worry when you leave me in the dark!"

I would've reminded her that up until now, I was convinced she had been at the islands, but I figured I might not want to risk my life at this point.

She stopped inside Cid's shop and unceremoniously plunked me down onto the black couch in the back. "But I guess you're wondering what I know."

I don't know how she possibly could have guessed.

"I received this shortly after Peter Pan contacted us to tell us you were all right," Kairi told me, holding out an envelope. I recognized the Heartless symbol on the front, and seized it, ripping it open as though it held my lifeblood inside.

Kairi gave me a funny look. "I already opened it for you."

A slightly embarrassing moment, yes. But still I yanked out the letter and read through it quickly. To summarize, it seemed as though some boastful person had taken Riku to the End of the World, and I was expected to meet them there. Most of the letter was made up of jeering or bragging, which, I supposed, one could only expect from someone under the control of the darkness.

"Great," I muttered, resting my face in one hand. There were several other words I wanted to say, but the librarian was too fed up with me right now.

It took me a moment to realize Kairi was glaring darkly at me. "I still have a few questions for you. This letter mentions a lot about the 'boy you love,'" she told me accusingly. "First of all, I had no idea you were—"

"It's Riku," I told her before she could finish, watching the shock spill over her face. "Whoever it is has Riku." I stood up. I couldn't stay here. "I'll go there and I'll bring him back, Kairi," I said to her as she watched me, her jaw moving but with no sound coming out. For a moment she reminded me of a string puppet being tested before the show. "This time, he'll stay here. I don't intend to let any of them get him again. I'm sure if I'm with him all the time, we'll stand a better chance at not—"

"Wait," Kairi said suddenly, standing. "You're just going to walk out of this room, conceivably out of my life—AGAIN—and I don't get a chance to say goodbye?"

I smiled faintly, drawing her into my embrace. Her cheek rested gently against mine, her strawberry scent washing over me. I could recognize the traits that had previously attracted me to her, but it didn't have quite the same effect this time around. "Goodbye, Kairi," I told her softly.

"Goodbye."

l-

As I came through the warphole and ended up beside Hollow Bastion again, I had the strangest feeling that I was part of a game of ping-pong. I could imagine the players—faceless men in black cloaks with glimmering silver trappings, each one grudgingly slamming me in some random direction with only the intention of waylaying me long enough for them to kill Riku. It seemed as though each time I was hit, Riku drifted further away.

I pulled Crasher to a stop in the cave-like opening, recalling distantly how I'd been here before not so long ago. Who would be facing me this time? I hoped it wasn't Ansem—I'd barely managed to defeat him to begin with—but I couldn't think of anyone else that made sense. If Riku really did love me, Ansem would know that by now, having taken over Riku's body earlier. And then there was the scene at Hollow Bastion; he couldn't have missed that.

Something jerked violently in my stomach as I saw the area around me shift abruptly. What had been a blood-colored sky had faded to a drab stone ceiling, with a pear-sized hole at the top. I could hear a soft moaning as the wind blew across the hole, and recognized the sound I had considered as a monster for most of my childhood. A habitual fight-or-flight response sharpened my senses, but I didn't feel I needed to leave this place. I turned my eyes on the door before me, still shining pristine through the chalk-covered rocks. It was here that I figured my opponent would make his entrance.

There was a step from behind me. I turned quickly and caught the image of a very familiar silver-haired boy, whose face was pale and eyes were haunted. "You have to get out of here," he whispered.

"Riku," I started, taking a step toward him. The door blew open from behind me, and in the doorway leading to the world's heart stood Axel. His scarlet hair flowed brilliantly in the wind spewing from the door, his dark eyes glinting maliciously.

"We meet again," he said simply, moving a rock to prop the door open.

I strained against the wind that was trying to blow me back, and realized suddenly that Riku was in no condition to do so. "Riku!" I shouted, even as I spun to see him blown down the natural hallway. I feared that I'd never see him again, that he'd smash to pieces like a beautiful china figurine against the rocks.

But this soon melted into battle. I had to move quickly to keep Axel's twin blades from severing any vital limbs, rolling hard against the stone wall. My shoulder throbbed with the impact, but I ignored it in favor of pulling myself to my feet and dodging the next blow. Axel shot me a dark look and threw his next attack at me with all speed. I had just enough time to deflect it with the Ultima, and then the blades were back, skidding along my bare skin where I couldn't quite dodge. We struck blow for blow, each barely marking one another. I personally considered the area to be too close-quartered for this kind of thing. The rocks often got in the way, and more than once I felt one of them protruding harshly into my back, alerting me that I'd have to maneuver in some other way to dodge or defend from the impending blow. And the wind made jumping or moving too quickly almost impossible—once I had to leap up onto a rock to slip out of death's clutches, and just managed to catch hold of a projecting stone before I was swept down the hallway to join Riku.

But that may not have been quite so bad, I realized as we continued. More and more serious injuries were beginning to form on my shoulders and chest, and I was certain that pretty soon Axel would stick me like a pig. For a moment I considered it really unfair that Axel had two weapons and I only had one, but then there was a sound like a distant trumpet. I stepped back, alarmed, and I could tell from the look on his face that Axel was just as confused. A sparkle began at my fingertips and traveled up to my elbow, and quite suddenly I was holding both the Kingdom Key and the Ultima. This confused me—originally I was convinced that the Ultima was no more than the Kingdom Key with a fancier Keychain, as it was with the others. But then, there had been that boy in the Lighthouse.

'Will you stop complaining now?' came the voice in my mind that I knew was Riku's. I smiled in response, somehow knowing that he would see it, and attacked Axel again with both Keyblades. I had the advantage of catching him off guard—apparently he was still trying to figure out the trick with the Kingdom Key—and was soon forcing him back toward the door. Axel halted suddenly, backing away, and I realized that the wind had stopped blowing out of the door. I looked up to see Riku standing in the doorway, clutching a small box. "Don't you hurt him, Axel," he said dangerously, holding the box over the oblivion that lay through the door.

Axel took a step toward him, frowning. "Is that...?"

"That's right. It'sher heart."

Dark eyes widened in surprise, and Axel took another step forward. "No—don't—I'm begging you...!"

"Then we're leaving," Riku said evenly, retracting the box somewhat. "Sora and I will get out of here. I'll leave this box by the door, and you'd better not move until we're gone."

"Give it to me," Axel told him, "and I'll give you my word that I won't hurt you or your little lover boy."

Riku's eyes steeled over. "Get real, Axel. I have no reason to trust you. Now move away from the door."

Axel looked as though he would explode with anger. I saw him turn—or, at least, I think I did, but then a biting pain spread like fire across my side. One of his blades, the edge red with blood, clanged against the stone behind me. The other zoomed uselessly over Riku's head and into oblivion. I wavered on my feet, dazed by the unexpected attack, and realized then just how much blood was spilling onto the floor next to me. With a soft groan, I backed up to lean against the stones, feeling sick as I saw a waterfall of dark red cascading down them.

"You SCUM!" Riku shouted explosively from the doorway. With a hateful glare at Axel, he drew his arm back and pitched Maleficent's heart deep into the grasp of oblivion. Axel shouted with rage and physically attacked Riku head on. My mind slowed in the attempt to contemplate the enormity of the event as Riku wavered, fumbled, and then toppled straight into oblivion. The moment he was gone, wind spiraled out from the door again.

I couldn't believe what I had just seen. "R...Riku...!" I managed. Without hesitation, I seized the bag of pixie dust from my supplies, and tore it open, staining the paper with blood. I used the last of my dissipating strength to throw it out the door, my blurring vision just barely picking up the sprinkles of gold that fell into the vortex below. My heart beat painfully in my throat as I watched for Riku to fly up in a spectacular display and defeat Axel, as I hadn't been able to. Maybe it was only my imagination, but it seemed like my heartbeat was slowing. Terror gripped me as I realized Axel must have hit something critical—I couldn't be sure whether I was dying or not.

Axel, meanwhile, was pushing on the door, trying to close it against the fierce winds. "C'mon, you…dammit…!" he was muttering, along with several other words. I could faintly hear a distant pounding, not unlike that of a heartbeat. Axel heard it as it grew louder, his face elongating with horror. Rocks from above him began to crash against the floor, several of them nearly smashing him. With a scream, he turned to run from the cave, only to have one of the rocks pin down his arm. More of them thundered down in a miniature avalanche, burying more and more of him, and several of them crushing his arm. Blood began to well up under those. "My arm!" he screamed above the throes. "MY ARM!"

"Serves you right..." I muttered darkly, trying to straighten from my crouched position against the rocks. I felt myself shaking with pain and grief, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. If Riku was dead, then at least I'd be with him soon. My strength failed, and I collapsed in the pool of my own blood, the iron smell reaching my nostrils and making me want to vomit. I closed my eyes slowly as I felt my heart slow even more...and then I think it stopped...

l-

A/N: Yayyers! I love this chapter—I think I'm improving. Oh—and at the beginning, Sora was supposed to be undergoing a tad of self-blame. Sorry if the reasons for his guilt didn't work out that well. Axel, I know, I have his agenda all wrong, most likely. But I know nothing, so I can understand nothing. And does anyone know what BHK's real name is? I've heard a rumor that it's "Lycole" or "Tyke," so I'll randomly use one of those if there's no other current information. I'm still trying to figure out who Axel's girlfriend is...that's plot for you, yeah.

Kairi: Sora, I lurv you so much! (huggle)

Sora: RIKU!

Riku: GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM. NOW. (growls)

Kairi: ; Uh...

Review replies (ch. 2 hehehe...;):

Ranma Higurashi: The manly scar BETTER return! LOL! UPDATE SOON!

Dai: Yah. I keep forgetting about that, but I like it. It'll come into play again later. I think.

Samantha: You have to go on Please pret prettey please with a sugar on top...  
That thing with Sora's Shoe on Milifecents head? You should relly put it on fanart central that would be hilarous also that thin with the heartlees grabing its attena (i think i spelled it right) you should relly draw that too ANY WAY! THAT WAS GREAT PLEASE DO MORE.

Dai: Thank you! Yeah, I tried to draw both...only it didn't work cuz I'm a terrible artist...ah, well. I might post it anyway. My fanart sn is "Chronos." Glad you liked it!

Ch. 3:

Ranma Higurashi: WAH! UPDATE SOON!

Dai: (blink) You reviewed twice? (has attention deficit) I would've updated earlier, only I didn't realize this was for chapter three...hehe. Thanks!

Reina-183: Don't kill Riku! That's too cruel! I love this fic so much, please update soon!

Dai: Riku? Oh, well, if I were you, I'd be more worried about Sora. But now I've said too much...XD


	5. When the Light Goes Out

All right, I'm sorry this is so late. But it's good! I promise! The style may be a bit different—I change fast. And I'll try to update sooner, even though the thing is drawing to a close as it is...XD

Disclaimer: I own that leaf on the ground. And that one. And that one.

Moribund-

When the Light Goes Out

A light glimmered from somewhere above me—faint, but there, piercing through the darkness. I reached for it even as it drew away from me, tinkling laughter flooding my ears. The laughter deepened into a mature chuckle, mixed in with the sound of the waves against the beach. Stop running, I thought faintly, even though the words didn't make sense to me. Why are you running from me? Always running...

"C'mon, Sora," that voice rang out in my ears. "Too slow, are you? Or are you scared?"

No, I'm not. I struggled forward, my hand reaching out for his.

"You're so dangerous," another voice shouted from behind me. "You're going to get him hurt. Come with me, Sora. You remember me, right?"

Kairi, I thought thickly. She was my friend, the reason why I'd started out on this journey. Wasn't she? I started toward her clumsily—for some reason my feet were numb and couldn't seem to walk.

"No, Sora. Over here," Riku called. "She can't do anything. I'll protect you, Sora. You don't have to be afraid."

"Liar. You work with the darkness now, Riku. All you can do is hurt him more," Kairi retorted in a scathing tone. "If he goes with you, he goes into darkness again. If he comes with me, he won't have to. He won't have to feel anything like that—I'll take care of him."

I sank to the ground as their voices rose angrily, blending in a hail of insults and pointed arguments. It was then that their opposing voices became one that was strikingly close to mine. "Come with me," it said quietly as the blond boy held out his hand invitingly. "We'll become one again. One, and joined with the Heartless."

No. Get away.

"Over here, Sora..."

Stay away from me!

"Sora?"

"Stay away!" I shouted, throwing my hands out in front of me. They struck something solid which felt suspiciously like Riku's chest. My eyes blinked open and, once the world came into focus, I could realize that this was the case. Blushing furiously, I withdrew my hands and became suddenly aware of the biting pain in my side. From the look of it, I was lying in the medical ward at Disney Castle.

Riku tenderly brushed a strand of hair away from my face, making me shiver at his touch. "You're alive," he said quietly. "I was so afraid I'd never get to talk to you again."

I frowned, trying to remember. "What happened? We were at the End of the World...the Secret Place..."

He nodded. "Axel was at Hollow Bastion when we were. Remember? He was the one who opened the doors and saved our lives. He was afraid of you, so he waited until you were gone before coming after me." A small smile, a shadow of his usual smirk, flickered across Riku's face. "Just think. Cute little vulnerable Sora, all grown up and saving me from certain death."

It took some self-control to keep from biting off his fingers. The last person who called me cute was Wakka, and he hadn't been right in the head since.

Notwithstanding the fact that he had never really been right in the head.

"Who's heart was that?" I asked. "The one you threw into the door?"

Riku shook his head. "No one's. It was an illusion. I just led Axel to believe it was someone he cared about, but I don't know who it would have been." He smiled wryly. "I had to do something fast."

I nodded slowly, still trying to recall the rest of the events there. "The wind stopped when you were in front of the door...but...you fell through! How did you—?"

"Pixie dust," Riku replied simply. "The wind was caused by Axel's will, so it stopped when mine clashed against his. It's very easy to manipulate the End of the World if you know how." He gave me a speculative look. "The pixie dust—it fell from nowhere—that was you, wasn't it?"

I smiled in response, noting in the process that I felt strangely weak. I really didn't feel like talking, but there were still a lot of things I needed to know.

"Donald and Goofy picked us up," he explained at my question. "They weren't too far away at the time. There was so much blood, though, and for a while everyone thought you were going to die. You've been asleep for three days now." Riku breathed a ragged sigh. "If you die...I don't know..." He shook his head. "I just wish I'd told you sooner. Maybe things wouldn't have turned out like this."

"Not your fault," I managed softly, placing a hand on his cheek. "I love you, Riku."

He smiled faintly, his hand covering mine. "I love you, too."

l...

The rest of the day was spent greeting my anxious comrades-in-arms. Riku stayed superglued to my side as I talked with Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith and tried to talk with Cloud, although he was being characteristically distant. He flatly turned down my offer to spar with him once I recovered, and the mention of that seemed to make the rest of them somber. Cid stopped in briefly for what he said was a routine check on customer satisfaction, but it seemed like that subject never came up.

It was after Donald and Goofy left that I noticed Riku was being unusually quiet and looking disappointed. His eyes came back into focus when I asked what was wrong, and he placed a hand over his face, shaking his head with a groan. "I'm such an idiot. I don't know why I believed Maleficent when she told me you replaced me with them."

I considered that. "Cid told me that Maleficent was a witch," I reminded him. "Witches cast spells, Riku. She probably just made you see things her way."

A fiery hatred ignited in his aquamarine eyes. "I wish she were here right now," he muttered in a dark tone. "There are so many things left to thank her for. In blood."

Grinning, I leaned forward and locked my arms around his neck, ignoring the spasm of pain that passed through my side. "I love my Riku when he's violent!"

"Sora...can't breathe..."

I relaxed my hold and leaned back, suddenly feeling something amiss. "Is Kairi still at the island? I figured she'd stop by. I mean, only since I almost died," I added playfully.

Riku, though, looked solemn suddenly. "Sora, about Kairi..." he murmured.

My face fell. "What? Is she hurt?"

He shook his head. "The blond boy from the Lighthouse came by Traverse Town while we were fighting Axel. He was looking for you and he asked her, but she couldn't tell him where you were, so..."

"He killed her," I finished in a flat tone.

Riku nodded apologetically. "We...Kairi and I were never very close, but I know it's really hard on you."

I nodded mutely, staring at the uninteresting blanket in front of me. "I have to...find him...got to kill him..." I muttered, savagely tearing at the blanket.

"Don't overexert yourself," Riku told me, placing a hand over mine. "It...it's not good for you." He couldn't meet my eyes.

I wondered why he was saying that—it wasn't like I was going to break into pieces—but my grief was too great to be ignored at this point. My vision fogged over with tears, and I quickly blinked them back to hide them from Riku.

"Sora," he said quietly, sitting next to me on the bed. I looked up into those deep eyes, feeling a lump rise in my throat. "Strong men cry."

A wail of unspeakable loss found its way to my throat, and I buried my face in his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

l...

The half-moon was visible through the third-story window as I lay there, watching the stars appear one by one. To think that every star was a world, each giving off its own light—it would take a lifetime to see them all. Maybe if Riku came with me, I decided, we would see them together. I turned to look at him in the silvery moonlight. We still had a long time together, didn't we?

"Riku," I whispered, unable to tell if he was still awake. He was still seated on the stool beside me, only now his head was pillowed on his arms on the blanket. I smiled silently, seeing the rhythmic rise and fall of his back. "Rikurikuriku," I cooed softly, stroking his delightfully soft hair. "My Riku."

I found myself remembering days from not so long ago, even before Kairi came. I was always jealous of Riku's name because I loved it so much. It was the awesomest name, I remembered thinking. But his name had become mine, in a different sense. It was mine to shout when I wanted to tell him something, mine to whisper when the light went out and I was scared, and mine to caress when I told him I loved him.

"I love you so much right now," I said softly, letting one silvery strand fall back against his cheek.

The door clicked shut, and I looked up to see Cloud standing next to it. He'd entered too quietly to be heard, so the sight was a bit startling, but not to the point of screaming and jumping away. "Sora?" he called in a low voice, stepping closer. "I figured you'd be awake."

It happened that I chose that moment to realize he'd seen me doting over Riku, and a blush broke out on my features, mercifully hidden by the darkness. "Uh, yeah," I managed in the same soft tone. "But I don't want to wake Riku right now."

Cloud nodded. "I just felt it would be in order to say goodbye."

That one caught me off guard. "You're going away?"

"I told you. I'm looking for someone."

I frowned. "But I thought...Aerith?"

A faint glimmer of mirth appeared in his eye. "Not quite, Sora. You may have set out to find Kairi, but she wasn't the one you were looking for."

Understanding dawned like the sun after a rainy day. "All right then," I replied. "Goodbye, and good luck."

He nodded to me in farewell. "As to you, Sora." He started for the door, but paused. "I probably shouldn't tell you this. Riku doesn't want you to know—he's afraid it'll scare you or upset you—but I think it'll be better, in the long run, if you know."

I blinked, trying to imagine what kind of news this could be. "Go on."

The blonde fingered the doorknob in what seemed to be uncertainty, although that had to be an impossibility. "It's a very delicate subject, but there's no easy preamble to it, so you'll have to forgive me if it sounds abrupt. From what the doctors say, Sora, you don't have much time left at all."

The words caught me like a blow to the stomach. My hands began to shake so I clasped them together in my lap, feeling a strange numbness creeping up to my mind. "How long?" I asked.

"Until next week, if you're lucky." There was a pause. "I'm sorry, Sora. I wish there were something I could do."

"It's not your fault," I whispered, bowing my head slowly as though it carried a great weight.

The door clicked shut.

l...

Two days passed, during which Riku conferred several times with assorted members of the Disney Castle faculty. For a while he seemed very angry about something, but it was that day that he came in wearing a smile. "It took a lot to get this, but it was worth it," he announced. "I don't ever want us separated again."

I raised an eyebrow. "A leash?"

"Of course not," he told me. Then his eyes narrowed. "But I could get one if you want."

"That depends. Am I seme?"

"No."

I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest. "You're the one with the long hair."

Riku chose to ignore that. "Here," he said flatly, holding out one half of a very familiar fruit. "Stuff your face."

Smiling and inhaling the sweet smell of the fruit, I proceeded to do so. Riku sat down, smirking, and I realized something. My eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Where's the other half?"

"I force-fed it to Donald."

I screamed in agony.

Riku waved his hands for silence. "You know I'm kidding," he told me. "If you must know, I didn't have breakfast this morning, so I was hungry. Plus, it took the shipping agency forever to get it here. I was afraid it wouldn't get here before—" He stopped short, then smiled endearingly. "Before you got hungry," he said quickly.

It became apparent to me how he was planning to thwart death. I finished the rest of the paopu fruit, if only to humor him, and then sighed. "Riku, pears don't cure cancer and apples don't heal wounds. I'm not saying it's impossible, I just…I don't want you to get your hopes up too high. I don't want you to hurt any more than you have to."

He stared at me. "Then...they told you? But I told them not to—!"

"It wasn't them," I told him. "I'm the one who asked. I needed to know."

For a moment he stood there, looking as though he were about to get angry the way he would back on the island. But he just sank into the chair nearby, looking strangely lifeless. "So...you don't think it'll work," he said in an emotionless voice, placing a hand over his eyes exhaustedly. "I didn't really think so either, before I ordered it. I guess I'm just trying to hold water in my hands, Sora. I'm trying to keep you with me for as long as I can."

For a little while, neither of us said anything. Then his shoulders jerked suddenly, his lips quirking upward. A broken chuckle escaped him—a terrible, self-mocking laughter. "It's kind of funny, actually. Here I am, a teenager. According to me, I'm invincible. Nothing terrible could happen to me or anyone else. I can't do anything that will make someone I care about die."

I stared at him as he moved his hand, seeing the dead look in his eyes. "Riku..." I managed softly.

"Kairi didn't do anything," he continued, the laughter subsiding somewhat. "A complete innocent. But she still died. And you...you did everything you could just to save everyone. And here you are." He brushed aside a tear that had slipped out of the corner of his eye. "Me—I ran around hurting everyone. I'm responsible for a lot of what went wrong. I'm the one who should be dying now, Sora, not you."

There was a silence, during which I leaned back against the pillows propping me up and bit my lip to stop the tears. "Riku," I said finally. "Come here."

He dutifully rose and came to my side. "Listen to me," I said firmly, taking his face between my hands. "I love you, Riku. I love you more than anyone or anything in this world and the next. You made one mistake, one slip somewhere along the line, and the others used you to do everything else. It could just as easily have been me, Riku. None of this is your fault."

"But—!"

"I'm not finished. It's not your fault because you didn't mean to do anything, and you're upset right now. They wouldn't feel this way—they meant to do everything they did. It's their fault, Riku, not yours!"

His eyes closed for a moment, and when they opened, they were misty with tears. "Thank you, Sora."

l...

We parted for a day, then. I guess Riku just had a few things he hadn't dealt with yet. I spent the day chewing on the candy sent over from Aerith, hoping the sugar would dispell the sudden increase in weakness that had settled over me. It didn't, though—it only got me in trouble with the head nurse. So I was in no mood when Riku walked in with a leash.

"Come here, Riku," I told him in a neutral tone.

His eyebrows raised innocently, he sidled up next to me and waited.

I poked his manly scar.

This action was rewarded with an only slightly exaggerated display of pain, after which I reverted to staring listlessly out the window. There was something I wanted to ask him, but I was afraid of how he might react. "Riku," I said finally, absently trailing my fingers along the blanket.

"Mm?"

"Would you...kiss me?"

There was no answer, and Riku turned his face away, a slight blush tinging his features. "I'm sorry...I guess I...just wanted things to be different...y'know?" I managed weakly, struggling to sound normal.

"I know. I wish I could change them for you," Riku said quietly, drawing nearer. He leaned down, at first awkwardly, and his lips closed smoothly over mine. It was a struggle to lift my hand and slide my fingers through the silvery strands, to breathe and move in unison with him the way I'd wanted to so many times before. And yet, at the same time, something strange was going through my mind.

"You can't protect him," Kairi said again. "You can only hurt him."

"Give me a chance!" Riku yelled. "If you take him, he'll be miserable!"

The world shifted. "Riku," I murmured softly.

"What is it?" His eyes were worried as he looked at me. "Is something wrong?"

I tried to reply, but too soon he was gone, replaced by the arguing memories. Against my will, my numb feet began to step toward Kairi. "That's right, Sora," she said, her arms opening invitingly. "Come with me, and you don't have to feel so much pain anymore. Nothing bad can happen to you now."

"Sora!" Riku seemed to be shouting in unison with himself. "Sora, don't go with her!"

"Sora, what's wrong?"

My eyes opened one last time, dazedly picking up Riku's concerned, aquamarine orbs. "...Lighthouse..."

The darkness took me, and I didn't feel.

l...

Dai: THE END! Muahahahaha!

Riku: (shuddering with fury) Dathari...

Dai: Er, that is, unless you decide to review. For every review, Sora's chance of survival increases one millionth!

Riku: Somebody better review, or I'll do some very painful convincing.

Sora: Please! My life is hanging in the balance!

Dai: Be quiet, you twit! Back to your cage!

Sora: (sighs)

Reviews:

Reina-183: Ah? Sora. Don't kill him eiter. They need a nice happy ending...or something like that. Love your story, but your cliffhangers are killing me!

Dai: Yes. My cliffhangers are like that. On the subject of Sora, hmmm...

Riku: (looms menacingly) He'd better not stay dead.

Dai: (sweatdrop) Rest assured, he's in good hands. (pokes manly scar)

Ranma Higurashi: Kyah! EBIL CLIFFHANGER! UPDATE SOON!

Dai: That seems to be a recurring theme around here, isn't it? Perhaps I should let up. (exchanges glances with Kairi) Nah. XD

Anyway, I hope everyone liked this installment, and I'll update once I finish my ARGH schoolwork. If I can just clean up the ARGH, then the ARGH shouldn't be so ARGH.


	6. Afraid of the Darkness

In case anyone's wondering about Sora's wacky dreams, Kairi was representing death and Riku was representing life. Just in case you didn't pick up on that. ;)

Disclaimer: Considering that if I owned Kingdom Hearts Sora would have died and I would have been murdered soon after by other crazed fans like myself, think about it.

Moribund-

Afraid of the Darkness

"I thought things would be different," Riku murmured to the silent body in his arms. "I thought...the paopu fruit...I thought you couldn't die..." His voice cracked and he rocked slowly back and forth, his cheek pressed against Sora's chocolate brown hair. "The Lighthouse," he managed softly. "You're right. We'll both go. Maybe...just maybe..." His unspoken hope lifted from him like a bird, darting out the window and rising higher in the darkened sky.

l...

Just like that, it was over. Everything was gone. The long life I'd meant to lead, spotted with trips to other worlds, wasn't possible anymore.

It was a very familiar feeling—the falling, complete with that strange, dreamy sensation that fogged the edges of reality. It seemed like I hit something, a strange numbness spreading throughout my body. I was lying on a hard surface, although there was water all around me—warm water, with an invisible sun shining from all directions. The soft sound of water droplets hitting the ocean echoed around me, oddly sounding like a creature conversing with itself. And, quite suddenly, the water arched in a huge wave that gently deposited me back into the air. It felt just like when my mother would say, "Not now, honey, I'll call you in a minute."

Suddenly I could see as I swept over strange, distant lands that seemed strangely familiar. A jungle here, a sea there—wait, was that the Cave of Wonders? But then it was too far gone behind the tumultous landscape. A tower loomed in front of me and, almost without thinking, I extended one glowing appendage and seized it.

The world around me screeched to a shuddering stop, a blinding darkness filling my eyes. Or were they still eyes, I wondered. I suddenly realized that I was still clinging to something that wasn't the tower with appendages that felt like hands. When I opened my eyes, as they seemed to be some semblance of eye, I realized that I was clinging to the edge of one of the stairs on a winding, corkscrew staircase.

I was at the Lighthouse.

The floor was perilously distant, but such a length meant nothing to me. I released my hold on the stair, landing soundlessly on the marble floor, and took a moment to inspect what I had become. My form certainly resembled my human one, although it seemed to be transparent and didn't respond to normal forces of the physical world.

Without completely realizing it, I was certain I had to get Riku to come here. I looked up the staircase, remembering that this was a lighthouse and therefore there had to be a light at the top. Riku was sure to recognize that kind of beacon, considering. For a moment I was annoyed that I had let go after being so high up, but it turned out to be of no moment. I simply floated to the door at the top of the staircase in a state very much like flying at Neverland.

The room inside was still spattered with blood from our fight so long ago, mainly because no one was interested in the Lighthouse enough to clean it. From what Cid had told me, it sounded like it was a relic from a long time ago, when it served by its color to tell Gummi ships where they were.

I ascended the steps that led to the smaller room at the top, spherically designed with inviting buttons and levers that at one time controlled something that was no longer there. At first I wasn't sure just what to do, but gradually an answer came to me. According to popular legend, a human heart had its share of light. There was no reason now why I couldn't use some of mine for this purpose.

Leaning over the device, I saw two circular depressions that seemed to be the plug for a power source. With boyhood faith, I spit on my hands, rubbed them together, and placed them firmly in the depressions. There was a minor pull as it extracted a bit of light for activation, and then the machine did the rest, illuminating in a great sphere that filled the room. I stepped back to allow it to move, sending a rotating beam of light over the worlds nearby. Smiling and satisfied, I started downstairs again.

l...

Cid muttered incoherently to himself at the controls of the ship. Riku had suddenly voiced a desire to take Sora's body to the Lighthouse, for whatever reason. So they were on Highwind now, geared in that direction, although Cid honestly had no idea where to go. Donald and Goofy, having brought the two wounded boys back from it, had only managed to get home through random warping and dumb luck. It was a mystery how they'd managed to get there in the first place.

The hardened blond cast a sympathetic look at the silver-haired boy who still sat with his cheek rested against Sora's forehead, staring off into space. "I hate to say it, kid, but it'll be better for you if you try to let him go," he told him in a heavy voice.

Riku's eyes closed and he shook his head. "No. Sora and I grew up together—we're so close we can almost sense one another's emotions from miles away. It's a big deal to me...and I'm going to bring him back, no matter what I have to do."

This was usually the time when Cid either laughed heartily and scoffed at the speaker's words, or when he somberly reminded them of the reality around them. But something about the determination in Riku's eyes, and that strange, serene calm about him, made the shopkeeper think twice about this.

"He's okay right now," Riku explained in a slow, hypnotic tone, stroking Sora's temple. "He knows we're coming."

Cid sighed, returning his attentions to driving Highwind. "It's gonna be hard to spot—this Lighthouse of yers," he said gruffly. "Maleficent had all the ones out here deactivated long ago, seven of 'em. Interfered with her plans."

Riku nodded distantly, only half-registering this comment. He was more concerned with the sudden silence that had gone through the space around them—a sudden jerking, as though something impossible had happened. Almost as if, he reflected fondly, a captured piece had just hopped back up on the chessboard.

The blond at the controls shivered suddenly. "Feel that? Just got a chill," he muttered. "The hell's goin' on around here...?"

A faint hum passed through reality itself, barely evident to anyone who wasn't listening for it. Cid had stopped, motionless at the controls. "That's what it sounds like when someone turns on a Lighthouse," he said quietly.

Riku felt something light, like a breath of sunshine against his cheek. "There," he said suddenly, pointing to the shifting luminescence behind and to the left of them. "That's the light. Sora's light."

l...

I pulled the hood up over my hair as I waited, scuffing absently at the ground and watching as the stones didn't move. They were shrapnel, remnants of my crash here. It had only been a few weeks, but it seemed like years since that happened. I traced my path with my eyes, recalling how I'd gone up the stairs and fought with that blond boy. It was there that Riku saved me, bringing me back safe and sound to Traverse Town. At the End of the World he saved me again, taking me to the intensive care ward at Disney Castle. I smiled fondly. What was Riku talking about, me saving him? I was a constant liability. But still, it was nice to think of myself as his equal, if only for those few moments.

I had to prepare mentally for his arrival, though. I wasn't sure how to communicate to him, since it seemed like I didn't have a voice in this form. Once he got here, he couldn't just approach and fuse me with my body again—that could easily be catastrophic, resulting in my permanent death. No, I had to be put back together with the aid of something that would heal me, or else the wound would only kill me again. Like, I considered, glancing upward; a great big light.

There was a sound from nearby, and I looked up to see Highwind's familiar hull coming closer to dock. I watched it for a moment, then, in the most dramatically mysterious way possible, I turned and went inside. Riku had had his fun when I was following him around, so the least he could do now was play chase in reverse. We had to go up there anyway, and after all, it couldn't do any harm, could it?

I can't believe I was that stupid.

Of course, I can't really blame myself. At the time, there was no way I would have counted on who I might meet if I hung around the Lighthouse long enough.

You never know who you might run into next, as they say.

"If it isn't Sora," he said in that voice that was so chillingly similar to mine. His dark eyes narrowed as he drew out the Oathkeeper. "I've been waiting for you."

I glared at him, fumbling for the Ultima, but it wasn't there. Nonetheless, there was no fear in my eyes when I surveyed him challengingly.

"This is new," he remarked, circling me and poking at my transparent form. "You've gone and gotten yourself killed now, haven't you? I'd really much rather you hadn't, but it looks like you're here, and that's all I need." He considered this for a moment. "In fact, that may be just what I need right now. I'm different from when I was when I faced you last, Sora. Then I wasn't fully developed—I didn't have a complete self. But now I do," he added, smirking. "My name is Damon now, and I'm just as much of a human being as you were when you spawned me. I was a part of you then. But now that I'm Damon, things are going to be just a bit different."

He prodded my form again, beginning to look excited. "You see, if you were a full human and we combined, we would both probably spontaneously combust. But you're only a harmless spirit."

Just a few more moments, I thought fervently. Just let him babble for a few more moments, and Riku will burst in and cast something devastating on him. My eyes shifted toward the door hopefully, waiting for the moment that someone would burst in.

"This time," Damon said slowly, pointing the Oathkeeper at my chest, "you're going to be a part of me."

Now, I thought in Riku's direction, feeling stressed and shocked and finally afraid, deeply afraid of the darkness. Come in now. I need you.

Nothing happened, though. Well, actually, I'm wrong. Something did.

The Oathkeeper passed through my chest and I felt pain again, watching in horror as my form began to solidify. Damon took advantage of this, reaching out and seizing my wrist. It sounded like he was chanting something in a low, guttering tone, and blood began to run from my arm where he touched me. But that didn't matter when I looked into his eyes and my subconscious joined with his.

(My other half.(

)Ah, you recognize me. Excellent!)

(It's been quite a while, hasn't it?(

)Too long, my friend.)

(I've missed you.(

)Truly? I'm flattered.)

(Cynic.(

)Let's not point fingers so soon, now. We have a lifetime to spend together. To begin with, I believe we need to state the boundaries.)

(I'm sorry, but I don't have much time to spend with you. I've found a better fit elsewhere.(

)Then you've replaced me?)

(Yes, you could call it that. You can't help but see how we don't fit. We're two exact opposites. Now how do you explain that kind of unity?(

)You're right. It seems that one of us should dominate, as usual.)

(Interesting, almost like one allele over the other. It's not that one ceases to exist, you only fail to realize it's there. Shall we have it like before?(

)No, not exactly...)

There was a rushing noise, and then I viewed the world from where Damon had been standing. I struggled to move, hoping to see where he'd gone, but my body didn't obey my command. Against my will, I bent and picked up the Oathkeeper that had clattered to the ground. Even though I struggled with every motion, I crossed to the center of the floor and waited there.

See how it feels, I wondered to myself. Or wait, was that me? Those thoughts weren't mine, but they continued to flow. You're not aware of me, are you? Just like I'm not aware of you, aside from knowing that you're there. It was just like this before—I had to watch while you made me do everything I didn't want to. It's agony, really. You'll learn very quickly.

A flurry of questions floated about my mind, but Damon didn't answer any of them. I almost forgot, I—no, he—mentioned suddenly. I can't hear anything you try to say. I've been trying to get your attention for fourteen years, but you never heard a word of it. Fourteen years, Sora. Can you imagine? But now I'm going to punish you. I'm going to make you wish you had listened.

The door burst open and Riku entered, breathless. Outside, I could just see Cid taking care of some aspect of Highwind before the door slid shut again. Riku's eyes were confused. "Sora?"

"I'm right here, Riku," Damon greeted him in my voice.

Riku studied me carefully. "Um...you look...different. A little like that blond kid."

My own laughter rang out and my vision shifted as Damon clasped my hands behind my head. "I just died, Riku. Of course I look different." At first I wondered how he so easily replicated my style, but then I remembered bitterly that he'd been watching me for fourteen years, listening to my every thought. Of course he knew how to act.

I watched in anguish as Riku visibly relaxed, smiling. "Well, c'mon then. We'd better hurry back before the others get worried." He turned to go.

"Wait," Damon said quietly. "Come here. I wanted to show you."

Riku raised an eyebrow, but he drew closer. "Show me what, Sora?"

"The light." Damon pointed to the staircase. "It's so beautiful, Riku. I'd just die if you didn't see it."

Cid cracked the door open. "Riku, we're ready to go when you are." He spotted me and raised an eyebrow. "Uh..."

"It's Sora," Riku explained quickly. "I'll be out there in just a sec."

Shrugging, Cid swung the door closed again. There was a strange, ringing tone of finalty in that action. Damon turned my eyes on Riku and I desperately tried to do something, tried to tell him to run away. But I couldn't move my own body now, so I wasn't the one who gestured toward the stairs. "You first."

Riku looked surprised at that, since it was characteristic of me to run ahead and call to him to follow. Nonetheless, he started toward the stairs. Damon began to follow, stopping suddenly and placing both hands on Riku's back. Damon's thoughts roared through my mind in maelstrom of fury. Feel fourteen years of my suffering!

With a choked cry, Riku stumbled away from me. "Sora...!" he managed to say, staring at me in horror.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Damon remarked, drawing closer to him. "I create just the right amount of pain in the right place—" He placed my hand on Riku's shoulder firmly, not allowing him to escape even as the pain visibly flowed between them. "—And your body begins to shut down because it thinks it's dying." A twisted smirk crawled across my face as Damon let go and stepped back a ways.

"What have you done with Sora?" Riku demanded, stepping back with one hand clasped tightly over his shoulder.

Damon rolled my eyes toward the ceiling, shrugging. "He's here. Somewhere in my head, no doubt. Probably getting a bit riled up by now." He smirked again, drawing the Oathkeeper. "You know, Riku, this reminds me of a time in Traverse Town not so long ago when I was looking for your friend here."

Riku's eyes flashed. "Kairi," he murmured.

"Was that her name? That's an incredibly stupid thing to name someone, wouldn't you say? Anyway, she was very stubborn. She made it sound like she knew something, but she wouldn't tell me what it was."

I suddenly remembered that she'd read Axel's letter to me. She would have known that I was at the End of the World.

"Hacking off a few important things didn't seem to loosen her tongue any, so she finally died from loss of blood." Damon wrinkled my nose. "Very stubborn girl. I almost wish I didn't have to kill her—she would have made a very loyal lacky."

"Not to you!" Riku shouted, drawing his Keyblade and attacking. Damon raised the Oathkeeper and defended, pulling the Oblivion from its place. Riku released the hold between Keyblades, dashing back to avoid the Oblivion that passed through the air where he had been standing.

Damon started forward menacingly, swinging both Keyblades on either side. "You haven't forgotten who I am, have you? I'm what has resulted by Sora's binding to me. His strength and speed have only enhanced mine. I don't see how you can hope to have a chance when you're fighting both of us."

Riku hesitated, and I realized that the pain must have intensified due to movement. His features grew pale as he leaned against the wall for support.

"This brings to mind a very curious word," Damon mentioned casually to Riku as he leaned against the Oblivion. " 'Moribund.' Have you ever heard it spoken? Probably not, since it's almost obsolete by now. It's supposed to mean something that's dying out, either like a word such as itself which is no longer used, or like the last few children in an orphanage that has been subject to an epidemic." His eyes glimmered softly. "Both are dying out, and will soon no longer exist. It seems strangely appropriate, doesn't it? The light has become moribund."

"It's not," Riku managed through gritted teeth. "Sora's still in there somewhere, and as long as he's alive, there's still some light left."

"Perhaps." Damon negligently tossed the Oathkeeper aside, and I could hear him thinking about what was going to happen next. I observed this with a strange, dreamlike feeling, almost as if I didn't care and it couldn't affect me.

"He's still there," Riku was murmuring, his voice becoming faint. "He has to be..." One hand reached out for me imploringly, his eyes filled with pain. "Sor..." But then he grimaced, sinking to his knees on the floor. His chest hit the marble with a solid sound, delicate silver strands bouncing slightly from the impact before they rested motionless against his face. He looked too pale to be alive.

A terrible yearning tore at me. I wanted to run to him, save him—all that I wanted to when I foresaw this happening not so long ago. He couldn't be dead. No—I'd worked too hard to keep him alive. You can't die now, Riku!

But instead, I felt my feet moving toward him at a slow pace, the Oblivion heavy in my hand as Damon raised it above my head. "This ends here," he stated in a chilling voice, allowing the Keyblade to fall.

l...

Riku: You're killing me! I'm gonna die! Do you have ANY idea how low your reviewer satisfaction rates are going to fall? And another cliffhanger! You idiot!

Dai: Actually, I'm well aware of that. Would you just be quiet and get ready for the next scene? If you don't, there may not be a next scene...

Riku: (grumble mutter curse)

Sora: Can you get me out of Damon's head now? I have to go to the bathroom.

Damon: Duh, Sora, that's because I have to go to the bathroom. What part of "subordinate being" do you not get?

Sora: ...What?

Reviews:

ShadowSora65: evil cliffhanger! anyways, this is a great fic that u must continue soon! Plz! ...ill give u a cookie

Dai: I think this is the last cliffhanger…not sure yet…COOKIE! (chases you in circles wildly)

Rike-sama: You WILL update. Riku's not the only one who can do very painful convincing... XD And don't you DARE to let Sora stay dead - you'd make me cry. (sniff) We don't want that to happen, do we? (full-force puppy eyes)

Dai: (holds hands up feebly) Riku's bad enough! I can't take much more abuse! …And Sora's just damn adorable. (wonders if it's odd to hear a guy say this about another boy) He can't stay dead—it's not physically possible.

SeekingRedemption: Hello again, since you asked so politely for a review. This here is what we writers call "constructive criticism," so don't take it personally. To begin with, the way you write doesn't sound at all like what Sora would really think--provided he's still fourteen. Some critical grammatical errors are there, but that's mainly due to free expression in the first-person department. If you're running out of ideas already it looks like you lack a fundamental element I like to call a "plot," because you have way too much to fix before you end this bad boy. I would suggest that you in fact think a little before you write so as not to randomly come up with so much stuff that needs resolving--such as, what's going to happen with Maleficent and Ansem? You don't really think you can just say "The end" without bringing all these side events to a close, do you? (Note: This is not to say that I think you're ending it already because I've read the next chapter and I KNOW what needs fixing.) There wasn't a whole lot of angst when it came to the death scenes, and you know it would have been better if you'd spruced it up a little. And you do realize you said it was Maleficent's heart that Riku threw into the void, right? Critical error, Dai. But for the most part I'm niggling about the plot, because, according to you, there's not much else you can do to make ends meet. Did I leave anything out? ...(faves)

Dai: XD I knew I could count on you.

Ranma Higurashi: WAH! Sobbing Cliffhangers are so EBIL! UPDATE SOON!

Dai: Yes, they are. I promise…I mean, I'm fifty percent sure…I mean…well, darn it, I don't even know, but I don't think there'll be many (MANY) cliffhangers in my next story. If I ever finish this one.

Thanks for reviewing, and please enjoy the story. If you don't, you can click a button and be fifty bazillion pages away from here, so don't reply with anything nasty. XP


	7. My Other Half

Upfront I will say that Riku threatened me with a flashlight, a hatchet, a chainsaw, and a rubber band. Then he pulled my hair, and when I still didn't update, he arranged for me to wake up to Ursula and Jafar having sex on my bed, and that's a sight no one should ever, ever have to see. So I updated, and now he's probably going to mess up my room with the chainsaw because the chapter's too short. Love is such sweet sacrifice…

Riku: Love? What do you—!

Dai: XD

Riku: … (runs)

Dai: (chases)

Moribund

My Other Half

'I trust you more than anyone.'

The Oblivion stopped only inches away from Riku's face. I felt my eyebrows drawing together as Damon frowned. "What was that?" he demanded sharply. "What did you do?"

When there was no response, he frowned down at Riku's eyes, open and glassy. "He's supposed to be dead by now," he mused. "But he's breathing—not moving—the pain appears to have stopped…" Shaking his head in confusion, he bent and seized Riku's wrist. "No pulse! What in hell—?"

"Hey, idiot," Riku called from behind us. Damon whirled to see him standing there, hands on his transparent hips.

"I see," my other half said after a moment. "You've thwarted death, too. Something must have happened between you two—maybe as a result of the stupid fruit." Damon narrowed my eyes, pointing the Oblivion at Riku. "But that won't help you much now."

"Won't it?" Riku walked forward until the Oblivion passed through him harmlessly. "Are you sure?" he asked in a low voice, his eyes glimmering.

Damon stared as he backed away and began to pace about the room. I can see why Sora likes him, the thought flowed through my mind. He's really—no! I'm not thinking that!

I felt the familiar heat on my cheeks as Damon's emotion caused a blush. He shook my head fiercely and began to chase after Riku. "This won't last!" he shouted, swinging the Oblivion at him in desperation. "You have to solidify sometime!"

Riku didn't show any sign of concern, merely continuing to walk. 'Sora, there's a back door,' came his voice in my ears. 'This way.' It felt like someone took my hand and led me to a place in my mind that it seemed like I had always been before, and I realized just how squeezed I had been. Damon was suddenly aware of me.

"What did you do?" I heard him saying, more frightened now than anything else. "Get out of my mind! You're ruining everything!" He swung at the apparition before him.

"Oh, be quiet," Riku told him lightly, drawing closer seductively. "I only did what's necessary for my survival. Funny how everything you feel is apparent to me now." He smirked. "But I guess that's what happens when someone else's heart joins with yours."

Damon froze. "That's what you did?" he managed in a choked whisper.

"That's right, Damon," I told him, seizing control over my body. I only had the right side of myself, but that was enough ground for the moment. "I remember what this was like with Kairi. I couldn't tell what she was thinking and feeling, but she could definitely tell how I was feeling."

"Dammit!" Damon clenched my left fist. "This isn't fair!" He grabbed for the Oblivion, but I held it away from him. We must've looked stupid doing that, though, since Riku began to chuckle quietly. With a low growl, Damon pulled us both down to seize the Oathkeeper.

I threw the Oblivion as far away as possible. "Too bad I've got your better hand," I mentioned to Damon, waving my right hand.

He raised an eyebrow. "I wield two Keyblades, you idiot. Don't you think I'm ambidextrous?" With that, he swung at Riku again, only to have the Keyblade slip easily through him. This was short-lived, though, as an idea suddenly dawned on him and he seized control of my other leg, forcing us both over to Riku's body. "This," he proclaimed triumphantly, "will take you out of me for good, and you'll only die after that." He raised Riku's Keyblade and slid it into his own chest.

A thousand possibilities flashed through my mind. This was the same way I had gotten Kairi's heart out of me—but that action had caused Damon's existence. Would this cause a third shadow to pit itself against the both of us?

But apparently that didn't happen, and I was left with two hearts in my hands. Because my own heart was still in my motionless chest, the Keyblade had failed to remove my spirit from this body.

I looked at the two hearts, trying to ascertain which was Riku and which was Damon. But since I had until recently inhabited the right side and Damon the left, it was only logical that Riku's heart was on the right. It was with this that I reanimated Riku's dull-eyed body. "Riku?"

Groaning, Riku looked up at me. "Is he gone?"

"Not exactly." I exhibited the crystalline heart that was Damon's.

"Great," Riku muttered, getting to his feet. "Let's go find a hungry Heartless to feed it to."

For a moment I considered the heart that shimmered in my hand. There was very little darkness in it all, although there was a spot critically close to the core. But, I realized, that was what made Damon who he was. If I took part of that away he might become another me, and if I took all of it away he could turn into someone too pure for the dark world around us. "No, I don't think that's the best idea," I said quietly. "He's only upset because I ignored him for fourteen years—even though I had no idea he was ever there. It's my fault he turned out like this."

"Sora," Riku groaned, shaking his head. "You preach to me about how everything isn't my fault, and now, when his existence has only just come to your attention, you blame yourself."

My cheeks glowed. "I didn't preach!"

"Whatever you did," he said easily, pulling me close to him. "You're not responsible. But I see what you mean—Damon is a victim of circumstance, so he should be treated lightly." He smiled. "I'll go get your body. You still look like your and Damon's lovechild."

I steamed at him as he left, then turned toward the stairs. Up there was the light that would reunite me with my body. But what would it do to Damon's body? Would it be incinerated, because his heart had that darkness? But I tried not to think about this as Riku approached with my body in his arms.

We scaled the staircase in silence, the only sound being the occasional metallic ring caused by an article of clothing. Once we reached the top, the hum of the light revibrating from the room above us, Riku seemed to shy away. "Be careful up there," he said quietly. "The light can be just as dangerous as the darkness. Believe me, I know."

"I know," I told him in what I hoped was a reassuring tone. "I won't leave you again." Taking my body from him and staggering under the weight—this body was only marginally stronger than I was—I proceeded up the steps to the light.

It looked as though a few Heartless were gathered near the light, glowing with the intensity but not incinerated. Upon closer examination, though, I realized that they were the white Heartless Donald had mentioned. But why were they here?

I got my answer seconds later when they swarmed toward me, claws reaching out for Damon's heart. "Stay away!" I shouted, kicking out at them. They seemed to get the message, retreating so that they were only a few feet away from the bright orb before me. Swallowing hard, I approached it, nearly tripping under the weight of my own body. Throwing Damon into light would be like throwing myself into darkness, but it was hard to determine what the result might be. "Here goes nothing," I murmured softly, leaping just high enough to slip inside the light.

l…l

(It looks like we've been separated again. I told you this wasn't going to work.(

)Yeah, yeah. Look, we need to sort this out.)

(Sort what out?(

)Once they wake up, yours isn't going to like mine very much. After all, we've done some pretty irreparable damage around here.)

(I see. But, my friend, choices have consequences.(

)Indeed they do. You chose to separate me from you to keep him from falling into darkness, isn't that right?)

(I should've known you were going to make this my fault.(

)One who knows nothing can understand nothing.)

(Shut up. Fine. What do you want me to do about it?(

)Only make it clear to him. Since his actions are noble and he has chosen to enact them, then it's only natural that his opposite would enact evil without choosing to do so.)

(You've certainly taken care of things to the letter, haven't you?(

)I'm only protecting him and myself. Will you do it?)

(I'm definitely going to make an effort.(

)Very well. I can't protect him any more—I have to remove the veil.)

(Will he remember anything?(

)Everything. There's not much I can do about that.)

(Pity. Someone will have to pull him through it.(

)Someone will. I'll make sure of it.)

(Then this is farewell.(

)Indeed. May you fare well with your new half.)

l…l

"Are you okay?"

I groaned an answer, trying to open my eyes. At some undetermined point in time, it looked like the light had gone out. Something heavy was draped over me, and I soon realized it was some sort of clothing. "What happened?" I asked, starting to sit up.

"Uh—don't do that," Damon said quickly, looking away and blushing furiously. "I tried to cover you up because, um…you're naked."

"Oh," I said, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks as well. I frowned. "But Damon, you're a guy, why would you…?" Slow comprehension dawned on me. If Damon was a part of myself, that must mean… "Oh."

"Don't start."

"It must have something to do with coming alive again," I realized, pulling on my clothes again. It felt so much better to be back in my own skin. Which, I remembered, had also been dead for at least twenty-four hours. "Let's get out of here. I smell like dead," I said to him, starting for the door.

"But…Riku's going to tear me to bits," Damon reminded me awkwardly. "After what I…that girl…I can't believe…" He began to tremble violently.

"I already explained to him," I told him quietly. "Things are going to turn out okay. I just don't want you to be a victim of the darkness anymore." I turned and started down the stairs.

An exhausted Riku was leaning against the wall near the window when I came down, but then his eyes lit up and he ran forward, seizing me in a tight embrace. "You had me so worried, Sora. I thought I'd lost you."

The familiar pain bit through my side, but I ignored it, if only for him. "Riku…"

Riku slowly, unwillingly broke the embrace, and I saw why when I looked up at the stairs again. Damon was leaning heavily against the railing, his eyes distant and tortured. From the look of it, he was still remembering what happened to Kairi. He suddenly ran past us and was sick violently in the corner. Riku observed this with palpable concern.

"Um, what is he…?"

"The veil was removed," I explained, not quite sure why I knew this. "He didn't fully realize what he was doing—and he didn't choose to do it." The exact opposite of me. That made sense, in a warped way.

"That explains it," Riku replied with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

I chose to ignore him, going to Damon's side. "Are you all right?"

He nodded, shuddering. "I think so." Although, he looked like he was about to faint, and I felt strangely worried about him—for some reason, he seemed very close to me. There was the strangest sense of familiarity, as though we'd shared a thousand conversations sometime long ago.

The three of us made our way down the winding staircase while Damon and Riku enjoyed my constant chatter. It seemed like neither of them were willing to speak to one another just yet, but that didn't keep me from trying. If Damon could just—no, not Damon. "Kite," I said to him. "That's your name, remember?"

Frowning, Kite hesitated. "Yes," he said finally. "Faintly."

"Kite?" Riku repeated with surprise. "For some reason that sounds familiar."

"Probably because you know Sora so well," Kite replied. "After all, aren't you two…?"

Riku and I both stopped walking, blushing and exchanging glances. Kite snickered. "Can't blame you," he said to me, jabbing a thumb in Riku's direction.

"Took you long enough," Cid remarked when we reached him. "I was about to go in there and—" He stopped abruptly, eyeing Kite. "Isn't he…?"

"Cid, this is Kite. Kite, Cid," Riku broke in abruptly, seeing the flicker of emotion across Kite's face. "We've all got our brains sort of scrambled right now, so it'd be better to explain once we get some rest."

Even though he looked like he'd rather argue, Cid nodded and let Kite onboard with a hint of apprehension. Riku and I sat down in the living room of Cid's expansive ship. Kite, who apparently was going to join us to try to sort through the hectic events of the day, sat down on the couch and promptly passed out.

"Side effect," I surmised. "When he wakes up," I said to Riku, "I'm going to need some time alone with him."

Riku's eyes were narrowed and his hand was locked around my wrist. "You're going to be exceedingly lucky if I let you go to the bathroom by yourself anymore."

"What about sleeping?"

"What do you think?"

I shot him a cunning look and poked his manly scar.

That didn't happen to work, though—the damn thing was healing. So I spent fifteen minutes wheedling my way out of being fettered to him for the remainder of the day, and he was just winning when I heard a soft groan from Kite. I exercised a few tricks I'd learned from Kairi and Riku left begrudgingly, calling from the doorway that he'd be keeping an eye on me lest I spontaneously combusted.

The question begs to ask what would he do about it anyway, but that's beside the point.

A strange thing had happened to Kite even as I watched him. It seemed as though his features had shifted and pushed and generally put up a row until they rearranged themselves into a face I could recognize—the face of someone I knew very well, although I still couldn't imagine where I'd seen him before.

"Kite?" I said to him as he opened his eyes, hazily registering my image above him. I smiled. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

He returned this with my own lopsided smile. "You recognize me. Excellent!"

l…l

Riku: (measures for the fifteenth time) It's too short! It's supposed to be at least six pages, Dai! AT LEAST!

Dai: Yes, well…wait, why is my cat licking the bedsheet again?

Riku: oO

Dai: I need to take him to rehab. Damn cat's getting high off the sheets… (And he seriously does this, I still can't figure out why!)

Sora: Your cat's weird, Dai. (starts licking the sheets too)

Review Replies:

Ranma Higurashi: NU! RIKU! UPDATE SOON!

Dai: Hee…soon…ehhh. But I appreciate your enthusiasm! So does Riku, but that's not particularly important…

DieChan: OO Nu! Riku can't die! Not after Sora did! That's not cool! I will be anxiously awaiting the next chappie! (sites at computer, staring at screen)

Dai: Yes he can. XD But it's bad form, so no. Um…you've been staring at the screen all this time? T.T Sorry it took so much time…hospital, you know…

Reina-183: gr...why'd ya kill off Riku? BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE NOW! I don't care how adorable Sora is, Riku's just hot! Kove it and update soon!

Dai: (intimidated) Uh, he didn't die (and is not going to!), I promise! And not only is he hot, but he's adorable, even if Sora is adorabler. (dodges hatchet thrown from Riku's general direction)

Angel: I love this story! It's one of the best KH fanfics I've read in quite a while. Update soon! (bribes Dai with cookies)

Dai: (flattered) Well, actually, I've grown to hate the damn thing, but…COOKIES! (grab)

Riku: (punch) NO. These are for SORA, because you KILLED him. (pauses) And for me, but only because I'm hotter than he'll ever be. X3


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